Friday, December 13, 2013

MY LOST INTERVIEW WITH DALSTON SUPERSTORE

This is an interview I did for Dalston Superstore in London for my gig there last week. Then their website stopped working and it couldn't get posted in time so they sent it to me with an apology. I mostly talked about why I love New York (food, DJs, music, Xander) so have a read if you wanna know why I'm real excited to be back home and DJing at 11:11 later tonight.

What makes NYC such a magical place for you personally?

I find NYC magical for so many reasons, including the fact that I can
have food delivered to my apartment 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! But I also
find that the people who come to live in New York are magical. New York is not
the easiest city to live in in terms of price, weather and apartment size. You
really have to want to be in New York in order to survive in it, so I find the
drive that New Yorkers bring to all things they create to be magical.

Who are your New York nightlife muses?

I draw inspiration from both the DJs and club kids that come out at
night in New York City. My top club kid muses would include Xander, Slanty, De
Se, Gugu and The House of Ladosha's Antonio and Adam. The DJs would include
Will, Nita, Dicap and the always incredible Michael Magnan.

How good are you at the sax? Are their any '80s sax solos that you can
bust out that we might know?

I traded in my sax for an acoustic guitar at some point in the '90s and
then took up DJing afterwards but I'm sure I can strum out any Hole song off of
Live Through This for you. As far as sax solos go, I'd have to practice a bit
before I could play you Lil Louis & The World - I Called U (The
Conversation).

If you were writing a love letter to your fair city, what would you
include and why?

In a love letter to New York, I'd thank her for all the worldly cuisine
options that are available with such ease. I'd also thank her for the beauty of
Central Park and Fire Island.

What makes the NYC gay scene so vibrant? And what other cities do you
think hold a candle to it?

In New York, you can pretty much go out any night of the week and find
something happening with good club music, or pop music if that's your thing.
There's multiple gay scenes in varying neighborhoods so I like to think that in
New York, there's a little something for everyone. I couldn't say the same is
true for many other cities, but I do live for the nightlife in London, Berlin,
Sao Paulo and San Francisco too.

Explain "The look goes as follows" to those that don't know...

New York nightlife icon Xander recorded a track with Johnny McGovern and
Adam Joseph a few years back called The Look which I created a fan video for on
youtube. I believe the song was edited together from a studio session where
Xander described how elements a wardrobe can be put together to both express
oneself and create and inspire others. It has since turned into a social media
hashtag (#thelookgoesasfollows) for all of Xander's clothing creations and
still continues to inspire me.

It would seem that your eclectic taste has lent itself to being an
acclaim wedding DJ. Have you ever had a wedding DJ booth request you couldn't
fulfil?

Tons. People hire me to bring an element of my nightlife experience to
their events and weddings and guests sometimes don't understand why I can't
fulfil their request to play the Isley Brothers' Shout (tired) or why an NWA
song might not be the most appropriate song to play at the moment (grandma is
still on the dance floor).

Talk us through the best time you've ever had at Good Times... one
special moment that will always stay with you...

The time that Fred Schneider of the B-52's rolled through Good Times
when me and my good friend Lina were DJing, got on the mic and sang along to
Rock Lobster is a moment that I will never forget. I grew up worshipping the
B-52's and to have Fred spontaneous singing live (and then closing down
the party with us at 4am) was a special moment for me.

You've had loads of London DJs guest for you- who's been a standout, for
whatever reason?

It's hard to pick just one guest from my London family who stood out
since they all did an amazing job, though I will say that one time, Horse Meat
Disco's Severino guested and played a late-night hip-hop / R&B set with
Aaliyah and Missy Elliott tracks that really made everyone go wild. It stands
out in my mind because Sevvy is known for his house and disco sounds but can
really make anyone go mental with any style of music.

If anything was ever about to convince you to stay here in London with
us, what would it be?

It would be Mother Nature changing her attitude and sharing a little
more sunshine on a daily basis.

Obviously this is a hard question to pose to someone who has an eclectic
taste, but can you pinpoint one track (or artist if it's too hard to narrow
down) that's shaped your music taste today?

Recently I re-listened to Fischerspooner's Emerge, and was transported
back to one of my first clubbing experience, which happened in London in late
2000. Dave Clarke was DJing and the song was a complete revelation for me in
terms of both electronic dance music and clubbing. I went back to Camden
afterwards (where I was living at the time) and emailed Dave to find out what
the track was. To my surprise, he responded and I went back to NYC and found
the CD at Other Music before it was released on a major label.

From a promoter's point of view, where would you hold your dream party
(anywhere- any country, any era, defunct club or current), who would be on the
bill (dead or alive) and where would you place YOURSELF on that bill?

My dream party would be beneath present day Istanbul in the Basilica
Cistern. The lineup would be me and my favorite New York DJs (Michael Magnan,
The Carry Nation, Wrecked, Mister Saturday Night, David Mancuso) and we'd party
underground amongst the Roman ruins for the entire weekend, Berghain-style. If
we started Saturday night, I'd take a Sunday evening slot and have Ron Like
Hell or David Mancuso or maybe even DJ Harvey play out till Monday morning.

What's one bit of advice you'd give your 18 year old self?

I'd tell my 18-year-old self that my University choice and college major
isn't of much consequence. Back then, I really thought I had to make some major
decisions about how I was going to live the rest of my life but nowadays, I'm
much better at enjoying everything one day at a time.